


You Are My Heart

by Ewo



Series: More Than Words [2]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: (because some works exist: they don't have a sexual relationship in my work; just stepbrothers), Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alexios is Deimos (Assassin's Creed), F/M, Happy Ending, Stentor as a father and husband who tries his best, because happy wife (and daughters) - happy life ;), the alexios & stentor relationship tag is about their relation as adopted siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:07:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25470592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ewo/pseuds/Ewo
Summary: You Are My Heart plays seven years after 'With All My Heart'.Stentor is happily married and has three children, and life couldn't be better but well ... there's Alexios who has the tendency to interrupt Stentor's rather calm private life. (But that's why one has siblings, right?)
Relationships: Alexios & Stentor (Assassin's Creed), Stentor/Original Female Character
Series: More Than Words [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1844425
Kudos: 7





	You Are My Heart

Stentor led his horse away from the main road, which would lead towards Argolis at one point, onto a smaller one, which would lead him home. Home. The house used to be his pater’s house, which had been granted to the Wolf of Sparta upon his first victories, but Stentor had inherited it after his wedding. _‘You need a house of your own, my son. Especially with space for many grandchildren for me.’_ had been his pater’s words. Although it was his, and Pherenike’s, since seven years, and it felt like home, it sometimes felt too big. Three girls couldn’t change the fact either that the house was meant for six or more children. And for more helots than they owned. The ownership of other people still felt wrong even after all those years as mothakes. Of course, he hadn’t felt like it when he had been a young boy, freshly orphaned, and had fought his way into Sparta to gain a feeling of belonging. As boy, he had hated it to be considered as dirty helot, as unworthy, as the pity case of Nikolaos. His hate of himself, of his own origin, had changed with years towards hate of the system. Enslaving other people, and treating them like vermin, might have given Sparta the opportunity to rise above all other polis, but it would also be her end one day.

There was a cart in front of his house and Stentor found himself frowning at it. Had Pherenike mentioned something of a visit, maybe of her sisters, and he had forgotten about it? Though he doubted that any of the four younger women would arrive in a horse-drawn cart. They would either ride themselves or ride in a chariot. Of all his wife’s sisters, he preferred Menodora the most. She valued the arts over the hunt, unlike Pherenike, who still found somehow the time between her duty as High Priestess of Aphrodite Areia, as mother of their three girls, and as a formidable horse breeder, to go hunting like she used to, and tended to be calmer than the three other sisters, Phile, Rhoxane, and Theodosia. His eldest daughter, Philophrosyne, was quite alike to her aunt Menodora. Painting and sculpting, with clay, preferred the six years old girl over energetic activities like running. His pater always nagged that Philophrosyne should participate more often in spear training like her sister Eirene, but Stentor had long considered that his girls should pursue what made them happy. And if creating little clay figurines made his oldest happy, so be it.

_“Kyrios, welcome home!”_

_“How often do I have to tell you not to call me kyrios, Akakios?”_

Their stable boy, technically Pherenike’s stable boy as Stentor tended to stay out of the stables and the horse breeding as it wasn’t his speciality, just shrugged with a lop-sided grin. Most of their helots still called him kyrios despite his wishes as they feared the krypteia more than his non-existing anger. He didn’t remember much of his life as a helot – Dirty feet, wild hair, hunger, his mater’s laugh, and his pater’s jokes. – but he had learned to fear the krypteia during his time in the agoge. Being a syntrophos wasn’t the best position to be in the agoge. It had resulted in too many fights against too many boys of his age or older.

_“To whom belongs the cart though?”_

_“Your brother.”_

_“My brother?”_

Why would Alexios come here? Why would Alexios come here with a horse-drawn cart? Where Kassandra was still the wilful one, the one who spat on most traditions, Alexios had learned to integrate himself into the society. He would never become their pater’s heir, he was no spartiate at the end, but the younger one seemed to be comfortable enough in his position as perioikoi. It left him with the freedom to leave whenever he felt like it, which was rather often, but everyone had given up trying to reign Alexios in. And he had returned more and more often in the last seven years with trade goods. Ivory, jewellery, exotic spices, pigments for colouring, and such luxuries.

_“Yes. He came when the sun stood a hand above the horizon.”_

_“Why a cart though? Did he bring entire elephant tusks from Egypt?”_

_“The High Priestess said that we shouldn’t answer that question.”_

_“Of course, she did”_ , sighed Stentor who knew his wife and her love for surprises. _“I hope he didn’t bring live ducks with him like last time.”_

_“They were delicious though.”_

_“Hah, but by far too loud.”_

It was still a mystery where Alexios had gotten nearly 100 ducks who had clipped wings, so they wouldn’t fly away. His stepbrother had never said a word about them, but Stentor still hated ducks. Kassandra had just laughed about the situation, but she hadn’t been the one who had to endure those birds at home as Brasidas’ house was at the town’s border and too small unlike his own.

_“Could’ve been worse than ducks. Donkeys, for example.”_

_“May the Gods save us if my brother ever thinks about bringing back nearly 100 donkeys with him.”_

Akakios’ laughter about the idea of nearly 100 donkeys trotting after Alexios followed Stentor as he walked up to his home. The wooden shutters were closed on the ground floors to lock out insects of all kinds. Eirene always reacted terrible when a mosquito stung her, which ended in huge swellings and tears in her eyes because the swellings were hard like stones and often fiery red. No household remedy had helped so far to protect the girl from further bites.

_“Pappa! You’re finally home!”_

_“Hello, blossom.”_ Stentor brushed with his hand over his oldest child’s hair. Philophrosyne’s hair was as dark and thick as his own though by far much longer than his well cropped hair; save for the part that became the braid. _“What’s so urgent that I took too long to come home?”_

_“Come, you’ve to see it, pappa!”_

He let Philophrosyne drag him further into the house, towards the main room of it where they always ate together and spent time together when the weather was awful. Normally they would be alone, just them, sometimes his parents would visit them, sometimes Kassandra came with Brasidas, and sometimes Alexios would join them. His younger brother adored his nieces and was like soft clay around the girls.

Today however was different. Alexios was there, like Akakios’ had said he would be, and Pherenike was at the table as well with a baby in her arms. His first thought was that it would be Harmonia, but his youngest daughter was as dark-haired as him. The child in his wife’s arms was golden-haired. The baby wasn’t the biggest difference though. The difference was the number of children of all ages sitting around the table, eating like they have been starved for the last weeks or months. The horse-drawn cart made so much sense right now.

_“So many new friends, pappa!”_

While he adored his three daughters, he felt overwhelmed by the number of children in his house. The oldest seemed to be thirteen or fourteen, it was difficult to tell as all of them were a bit too dirty, the youngest was most likely the baby in his wife’s arms. Where did Alexios find all these children? Did his brother expect him to take care about them? While they were certainly better off than most spartiate, Stentor knew that they couldn’t feed so many children over a longer time.

_“Blossom, go and make sure that your uncle is actually eating something. I’ve to talk with your pater.”_

_“Okay, mamma.”_

Philophrosyne squeezed herself between Alexios and another child and put some bread and meat onto her uncle’s plate, which was already full. His daughter was utterly at ease with so many children around her just like Eirene who sat next to two girls in her age and shared her apple slices with them.

_“What is the meaning of this?”_

_“Come, let us go upstairs, I’ll explain it there, my love.”_ She kissed his cheek, brushing over his jaw with her lips. _“Don’t look so glum, Stentor. They’re just children.”_

_“It’s not what I’ve expected. I thought we would’ve to deal with fowl again.”_

_“You know that I wouldn’t have allowed Alexios in if he would’ve brought so many ducks with him again.”_

Amusement glinted in her dark eyes and Stentor kissed her forehead before finding, finally, the courage to take a glimpse at the golden-haired baby in her arms. The child was sleeping and seemed to be as old as Harmonia. Six or seven months though Stentor always found it difficult to guess a child’s age at this stage. It was easier when they were older. Though it was obvious that the baby was underfed. All his daughters have been plump and rosy-cheeked as babies. This one had hollowed cheeks, the cheekbones were too sharp for a child’s face, and arms as fine as the bones of a bird. Even the hair lacked its lustre.

_“What happened to the child, Pherenike?”_

_“I will explain it upstairs.”_

The sadness in her eyes worried him as it most likely meant that nothing good happened to the baby. Or to any of the other children who, on a second glance at them, all looked too thin and too scared. There was more wariness around them than around a caught spy. It was the same wariness he sometimes noticed around Alexios.

Pherenike placed the underfed baby into the cradle, which already housed their third daughter. Where Philophrosyne was artistic and where Eirene was active, Harmonia was true to her name. She was a calm and friendly baby who smiled at everyone and managed to wrap everyone around her small finger in no time. Even Kassandra couldn’t resist her youngest niece’s charm and became much softer around her.

Upstairs, Pherenike lighted up two oil lamps with a small splint, so their bedroom wouldn’t be dark anymore, before she came over to him to help him open up the cording of the light cuirass he wore. It was an obligation to appear dressed as if one were ready for battle when dining in their syssitia hall.

_“You don’t need to help me, my heart.”_

_“You know that I love to undress you.”_

The removal of his cuirass hid his grin at her words. Where he would be fine with soft kisses and holding her in his arms during the night, Pherenike was by far more passionate. He tended to indulge her, enjoying the soft noises she would make, even if he didn’t crave sex. It was one of the few things that still hadn’t changed in all his years. While he had been ashamed of it with 20 years, Stentor didn’t bother himself too much with it anymore. His lack of sexual appetite didn’t seem to bother his wife and as long as she was satisfied and happy, he was more than fine.

_“So, do I want to know where my brother found so many children?”_

_“You make it sound like he stole them.”_

_“Well …”_

_“Stentor, please.”_

_“I’m still sure that he stole the ducks. Or won them in a game of dice.”_

Because how else should a man gain ownership over nearly 100 ducks? Especially Alexios who wasn’t a duck breeder or otherwise involved with fowl. He whittled bows, good ones, from time to time, which he sold either to spartiate, even most would frown upon using a bow as it was considered as a weapon for cowards, or outside of Lakonia.

_“Do you remember what Kassandra told us about this Cult?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Then you remember that they also raised Alexios to become a weapon.”_

_“Of course.”_

_“Well, he found the woman who acted like she was his mater although her upbringing consisted of violence and not a mother’s love. Kassandra had failed to kill her after rescuing a baby from a temple, which Chrysis ignited.”_ Stentor took her hands into his, brushing over the back of her hands with his thumbs, to calm her down. _“She was still in Argos and still stole children for the Cult. You saw them, Stentor, you saw what happened to them and I don’t doubt that they had endured injuries we can’t see. Alexios couldn’t leave them there, on their own, and he doubts that they could return to their families. The older children told him that they don’t remember their homes anymore. Their only reminder are burn marks like Alexios’ lambda as if they are cattle. They come from every corner in Greece, Stentor. Elis, Attika, Phokis but also Macedonia, one of the many islands, Lakonia, Achaia or Korinthia. And all of them have their polis’ first letter or the first two letters burned into their skin.”_

 _“Gods.”_ Stentor let go of his wife’s hands, covering his face with his own, and sighed deeply. It was a nightmare. Alexios rarely spoke about what happened to him after he was considered as dead in Argolis, but it had left their marks in him, which ran deeper than his scars. There were still days where he was closer to madness than sanity. _“Why did he come to us though?”_

_“You know that he still doesn’t trust Kassandra and your parents.”_

_“But us?”_

_“Unlike Kassandra, you don’t tend to nag or glare at him, my love. You even trust him to be alone with the girls, which you don’t do with anyone else.”_

Stentor wanted to say ‘Yes, because he would never hurt them or let anyone hurt them’ but he knew that Pherenike was aware how he felt about it. Despite everything it had been easier to develop a healthier relationship with Alexios than with Kassandra. Of course, his brother had bad days, but he tended to stay away from everyone on such days, which couldn’t be said about Kassandra who still carried so much anger in her.

_“But do we do with so many children now? We can’t feed them all, you know that.”_

_“I know. They could stay for a while, we’ll manage it, until they realise that no one would hurt them here. But you’ve to speak with the kings and the elphors to appeal to them.”_

_“For what?”_

_“For adaption, of course. They’re children, most of them younger than six years, and could easily be adopted into families who don’t have any offspring or where their children are already in the agoge. Let them become spartiate, we aren’t many anyways.”_

The ruling class of Sparta used to be numerous, some sources spoke of 6,000 or more men, but never-ending wars and the habit of late marriages had reduced the number of spartiate. Stentor guessed that they were around 2,000 or 2,500 men by now. The perioiki and helots outnumbered them with ease.

_“They will never allow it. Especially not with Pleistoanax who is still upset about what happened to his son.”_

King Pausanias had been killed like a stray dog in the street when he had fled Sparta after his treachery had been revealed. And while his father, Pleistoanax, couldn’t be considered a good king either as he had been involved in bribery, he was still furious about what happened to his son. It was certainly a downside of being related with Kassandra although no one ever accused her in public of the murder, but Stentor was sure that it had been her. Simply to finish what she had started.

_“Appeal to the elphors. My uncle Hippokratidas is an elphor, he’ll listen to you.”_

Being married with Pherenike had granted him many advantages as her family was numerous and most of them held important offices. Her uncle was an elphor, her father was in the gerousia, she was the High Priestess of Aphrodite Areia, one of her many aunts was the High Priestess of Hera, and a cousin was the High Priest of Apollon. It was a stark contrast to his own family where his stepbrother was a pardoned war criminal without full citizen rights, his pater was banned from all offices as he had abandoned Sparta in Megara, his mother was the daughter of Leonidas but she also fled Sparta without allowance after what happened at Mount Taygetos, and his stepsister was too unruly and spat on Sparta’s traditions. It was still a miracle that Pherenike’s father, Nikandros, had accepted the proposal.

_“I’ll try but I can’t promise you anything, kardia mou.”_

_“I know.”_ Her kiss was soft and it was one of those moments where he just fell in love with her again. It happened often and he was glad for it. _“There’s something else.”_

 _“Hm, thought so. You look anxious.”_ He kissed the fine lines between her eyebrows, which always appeared when she was worried. _“What is it?”_

_“It’s about the baby.”_

_“I see.”_

_“It’s a boy and … I would like to adopt him, Stentor. I don’t know if I can give you any sons. More and more women start to whisper behind my back that you should divorce me, marry one of their daughters, to have sons, whenever I give birth to a girl.”_

He kissed her between her eyebrows again before taking her into his arms. Not having a son was a great shame in Sparta and Pherenike felt it more than he did. He could ignore his pater’s muttering about having no grandsons, and the comments from the men of his syssitia, but he knew that his wife worried more about the so-called curse in her family. Just daughters, rarely a son. The whispers had started after Eirene’s birth, two daughters in a row were considered as bad luck, and then she had been pregnant again. It had been a miscarriage and a boy. He knew that Pherenike still blamed herself for the miscarriage although she had followed every advice and rule from the midwife. And then she had been pregnant again, giving birth to Harmonia. There was no shame in having daughters at home, considered Stentor by now, as he loved his three girls with all his heart, and he knew that he would never lose them to war.

 _“I will never divorce you, Pherenike. You’re the light of my life.”_ Whom he couldn’t deny anything. _“But if it’s your wish, we’ll adopt him.”_

How could he deny her such a wish? The comments about the lack of sons meant nothing to him in comparison about what he had endured as child. But a woman’s worth was often measured in sons – especially in Sparta. And Harmonia was most likely as old as the boy, they would just grow up as if they were twins.

_“Thank you.”_

He would have to make a strong point in front of the elphors and the kings now or otherwise his wife would be devastated.

_“Do you have a name in mind in case he doesn’t have one?”_

_“I thought about naming him after your father.”_

_“Nikolaos?”_

_“No.”_ She raised her head from his shoulder to be able to look him in the eyes. _“After your birth father.”_

His father. Nikolaos was his pater. While he wasn’t able to remember much about his childhood, he still knew his parents’ names. Diodoros and Tryphosa. At certain nights, their names had been like a prayer to him to get him through the agoge. Praying that they would be proud of him. Praying that he would do them justice.

_“Diodoros.”_

_“It is a good name.”_

_“Yes.”_ He felt faint when he leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. His father. Would he be happy to have Pherenike as daughter-in-law? Would his mother be happy? Pherenike knew nothing about household chores, like weaving and spinning as such were tasks for the helots, but could hunt like Artemis herself and tame horses as if she was Poseidon’s daughter. _“Thank you.”_

They stayed like this for some time and Stentor felt her fingers at his back, at his neck. He had never said a word about his parents, he didn’t allow himself too often to think about them either, but his wife was by far too clever to notice what he never said as thinking about his parents was pain and joy at the same time.

_“Let us go downstairs, Stentor, or Philophrosyne will fatten up her uncle until we can roll him out of the house.”_

_“Well the way leads downhill: he’ll roll until he’s in town.”_ Stentor kissed her before she was out of his reach to go ahead. He didn’t deserve this woman. _“I love you, kardia mou.”_

_“So do I, my love.”_

There was a worried expression on Alexios’ face when they came back into their main room, most of the children seemed to have finished their dinner, few have found a corner to fall asleep there on the naked ground. The worry vanished when Pherenike nodded at his stepbrother and a weight seemed to be lifted from his shoulders.

_“Thank you, brother.”_

_“Just don’t bring back ducks the next time again. I still hate them.”_

He would never be good with the thanks from other people. It had taken him long enough to be fine with it when it came from his own wife.

**Author's Note:**

> Kardia mou = my heart
> 
> Mamma & Pappa are modern Greek terms, but I suppose that the Ancient Greek children most likely also called their parents such names instead of the very formal mater and pater.
> 
> Mothakes describes the men who were born as non-spartiate but adopted by one (Including the sponsorship during the agoge.), and the successfully passing of the agoge at the age of 20, and earning their citizenship afterwards. It is most likely what Stentor is as he was adopted by Nikolaos. Of course, he could've been born as spartiate and simply orphaned but I doubt it as it would mean that none of his family would be alive. Some sources point out that mothakes weren’t allowed to adopt and sponsor themselves any helot children, but sources vary a lot when it comes to that point. Perioiki are men who are Lacedaemonians of the surrounding territory, but they don’t possess full citizen rights. Given Alexios’ history as Deimos, I figured that he would never gain full citizenship. 
> 
> Pleistoanax was the Agiad king who’s the grandson of Leonidas’ brother Kleombrotos. He’s also Pausanias’ father (who is named after his grandfather Pausanias) and ruled in fact twice. Once from 458 – 445, when he took over after his cousin’s death Pleistarchos, the son of Leonidas, where he was accused of bribing Athens/accepting a bribe from Athens and then from 426 – 408 when his son was exiled. Pausanias ruled from 445 – 426, was exiled, and ruled again from 408 – 394. Given that you kill Pausanias in-game, you create an issue when it comes to the timeline. So, Alexios & Kassandra are second cousins with Pausanias and, if you play as Alexios, should even be considered as heir to the throne (especially since he’s Leonidas’ grandson, which would carry some weight) since Pausanias might haven't fathered his sons by that time.


End file.
